Investors Purchase High Volume of Global Payments Call Options (NYSE:GPN)

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 6,120 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 77% compared to the average daily volume of 3,456 call options.

Global Payments Price Performance

NYSE GPN opened at $104.12 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $111.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Global Payments has a fifty-two week low of $91.60 and a fifty-two week high of $141.77. The firm has a market cap of $26.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.01.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.14). Global Payments had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 13.61%. On average, analysts anticipate that Global Payments will post 11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. Global Payments’s payout ratio is 18.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $122.00 target price (down previously from $155.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Global Payments from $143.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Global Payments from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Global Payments from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Stephens cut Global Payments from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $135.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Global Payments news, Director Robert H. B. Baldwin, Jr. purchased 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $116.00 per share, with a total value of $672,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 42,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,957,608. This trade represents a 15.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Global Payments by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,949,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $330,516,000 after buying an additional 349,457 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 65.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,982,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $203,047,000 after buying an additional 785,539 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in Global Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at $562,000. Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in Global Payments by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Poplar Forest Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Global Payments in the third quarter valued at approximately $13,184,000. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

About Global Payments

Global Payments Inc provides payment technology and software solutions for card, check, and digital-based payments in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through two segments, Merchant Solutions and Issuer Solutions. The Merchant Solutions segment offers authorization, settlement and funding, customer support, chargeback resolution, terminal rental, sales and deployment, payment security, and consolidated billing and reporting services.